The Korean War Memorial & why I love studying Chinese
// November 13th, 2009 // Chinese, Korea
Once again the months go by without an update, but I had an experience a couple weeks ago that I just wanted to write about. I’m back at VT for my final year and got back into the groove of things much faster this time than last semester. Coming back from Asia this time wasn’t near as rough and I managed to settle down quickly.
Anyway, on October 29, I visited the Vietnam and Korean War Memorials in DC while I was attending the National Collegiate Honors Conference. It was particularly significant because about 2 months ago I was in Seoul and visited the Korean War Museum there. The contrast was pretty intense. First of all, the DC memorial is just that – a memorial. It is rather small, but done in such an elegant way that it makes you stop and think, and remember. I really liked it, and the subtle symbols all around it make it easy to spend a long time there without even realizing it. In contrast, the museum in Seoul is enormous and is truly a museum and not just a memorial. There are two long outdoor walkways that each go for about 200 yards with the names of every soldier killed in the war. The shear enormity is a little overwhelming. All around the structure are old tanks, trucks, planes, and even a submarine that were used in the war. Inside the huge main building are lots of rooms that each highlight a different specific detail about the war. Take a day there and you’ll leave with a much better understanding of the entire Korean conflict. In general, the biggest thing I can take away from visiting both is that perspective is crucial. To us, we lost many soldiers in that war, but the freedom won was worth the cost, and we will always remember and value those lost, which is reflected in the memorial in DC. To the South Koreans, this was the equivalent of the Revolutionary War and the Civil War combined. This was THE war, and they will forever remember not only the cost of that war, but also the extreme details of how they achieved the nation they currently enjoy, so they built a full museum.
Now onto the awesome moment I had at the Korean War Memorial in DC. As I approached the very front of the memorial, I noticed a Chinese man looking a bit puzzled as he read the large words etched into the wall: ”Freedom Is Not Free.” I approached him and asked if I could help. He asked, “What exactly does this mean?” in sort of a broken Chinese accent. I had to pause for a moment. What a question. I wanted to respond with, “Everything,” but I knew he wouldn’t quite understand. Instead I explained how we had to pay a price for freedom, and that price was the lives lost in the war. Then I asked if he was Chinese, and when he said yes I said, “Zhe ge yisi shi ‘ziyou bu shi mianfei’,” literally “freedom is not free” in Chinese. He paused for a second then immediately said, “Ah…you…you speak Chinese? Ah…yes, I get it.” We chatted for a bit. I explained I had studied Chinese for a while and he said he was a student from a college in Beijing. After inviting me to come teach at his college, we parted ways.
What a magnificent moment that was. It took me a while to realize that we were sort of on opposite sides of that warm but I was able to explain why we fought in it in his native language. This is why I love studying language, and Chinese in particular. For us, when someone learns English, we think nothing of it, but to the Chinese, when a foreigner learns their language, it’s as if you just did the impossible. There is an immediate surge of respect and value for your effort in learning their language, and the mutual understanding you have for each other is ineffable. I keep running into moments like these and they are some of the most unique and memorable experiences of my life. I can’t wait for the next one.
